Rumor: Thinner, lighter next generation iPad coming in March 2013

The Apple rumor mill seemingly doesn’t take a break for the holidays as we are already hearing rumblings about what Cupertino’s next generation iPad may have in store. Japanese blog Macotakara recently published a story saying the new iPad will be unveiled in March 2013, just five months after the fourth generation slate went on sale.

It’s still early and details are vague but we are hearing that the fifth generation iPad will be thinner and lighter than current models. Specifically, the tablet will be 4mm shorter, 17mm narrower and have a depth reduction of 2mm. The sources also claim the full-sized tablet will utilize elements found in the iPad mini like the black / slate and white / silver color schemes.

A March unveil / release would follow nicely with Apple’s history had they not released the fourth generation iPad and iPad mini just a couple of months ago. It’s still plausible of course but just perhaps a bit less likely given the recent launches.

In fairness, however, the fourth generation iPad release was relatively low key in nature as the iPad mini was the real star that day. The newest full-sized iPad includes a more powerful A6X processor, a revised FaceTime camera that supports 720p resolution, Apple’s new Lightning connector, dual-band Wi-Fi and the same image signal processor that ships inside the iPhone 5.

Cupertino didn’t adjust the pricing structure to reflect the tablet’s upgrades which means the 16GB Wi-Fi slate still starts at $499.